Invasion of Safety
by Mintrosy
Summary: While Dylan and Merritt are out shopping, the three youngest Horsemen encounter an unexpected danger that threatens not only their physical wellbeing, but also their illusion of security. What will Dylan and Merritt discover when they return?


As per usual, downtown London was a bustling epicenter of activity despite the heavy rain and cold temperatures blanketing the city. Greenwich Observatory was experiencing a similar level of activity as Lula, Jack, and Daniel occupied the central living room of The Eye's safehouse. The three magicians were each situated in various locations around the room, practicing their skills and talking animatedly about random tricks to each other.

Jack, of course, was throwing his playing cards into the target on the wall opposite of him, spelling out his name with the projectiles. Lula was sitting on the couch in the middle of the room, watching Jack and working on tying different types of knots to escape from. The large wooden table in the corner of the room was covered in various wires and pieces of machinery, and Daniel was seemingly building something with the mass of technology, his eyebrows furrowed together and his expression concentrated.

Merritt had just walked into the room when a playing card flew just a little bit too close to his head, and stuck in the wall behind him. He looked accusingly at Jack, who just shrugged his shoulders and shuffled the remaining cards in his hands.

"Hey, man. It's your turn to get groceries." Jack reminded, grinning at Merritt's exasperated face.

"We just restocked the kitchen four days ago! You kids go through food like nobody's business." Merritt sighed and began walking to the door. At that moment, Dylan entered the room from the direction of the library, book in hand.

"So, anyone want to go with me to the market? Or maybe for me?" Merritt asked hopefully, glancing around the room at the four magicians.

"Nope." Jack and Lula responded simultaneously, giggling.

"I'll go with you, I need get some supplies anyway." Dylan said.

"Ok then. Atlas?" He questioned the focused Horseman. Danny snapped out of his concentration and looked at Merritt's expecting face.

"Sorry, what?"

"The market? Do you want to go?" Dylan repeated as Merritt rolled his eyes.

"Uh, no. Thanks." Daniel answered before returning to his work.

"Ok, we'll just leave you kiddos to play, don't open the door for strangers and be in bed by nine." Merritt teased.

"Yeah, very funny, have fun at the bingo tournament." Jack snarked back and laughed loudly with a big grin on his face, while Lula snorted quietly from the couch. Merritt just sighed and shook his head as he and Dylan left the room.

...

A couple hours later, Dylan and Merritt returned to the observatory, bags in hand. However, as they approached the door, they immediately recognized something was wrong. The hinges were bent at a strange angle, and the windows that they could see had all been broken violently. They shared a look before placing their bags on the ground and cautiously entered the building.

The inside of the observatory was completely wrecked, with broken glass scattered across the floor and various overturned or broken pieces of furniture haphazardly thrown around the living room and halls. There were obvious signs that the younger Horsemen fought back against their attackers. A multitude of playing cards were strewn throughout bottom level of the observatory, and some of Lula's flash powder had left faint scorch marks on the white plaster walls.

As the two men made their way through the debris, Dylan caught sight of a heeled foot quickly moving behind the couch.

"Lula?" He called out uncertainly, noticing several large blood smears on the ground.

As soon as he spoke, Lula's wild head of hair popped above the edge of the couch, and she looked at the two men with wide eyes.

"Dylan! Holy shit, thank god you're back!" Lula spoke frantically, jumping up from her hiding spot and limping over towards Merritt and Dylan. She had clearly injured her foot, and there were numerous cuts on her hands and one on her forehead that bled profusely down the side of her face. Dylan steadied Lula as she reached him and spoke calmly to the frazzled magician.

"Lula. Hey, you're safe, Lula. I've got you." Dylan comforted, "Who did this?"

Lula shook her head quickly and said, "They-they had masks and destroyed the place and attacked us and then just left! Oh my god, go find Jack now. Right now!" She pleaded desperately, on the verge of tears. Dylan nodded at Merritt, signaling him to go look for their youngest male Horseman.

Dylan placed his hands on Lula's shoulders as she trembled violently, "Lula, it's going to be okay. Merritt is going to find Jack right now. He's probably fine, hiding just like you were."

"No, no, no, no." She spoke in a fast, high-pitched voice, obviously in shock, "I heard a gunshot, and then a loud crash. Jack's hurt, I know it!"

"Everything will be okay, Lula. Are you able to sit and wait here while I find Atlas?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah I-I'm fine, I'll be fine. Just hurry, I heard yelling from the library earlier." She as she sat down gingerly to avoid further embedding the glass in her skin.

Dylan nodded and rushed up the stairs to the library, pausing at the doorway at the scene before him. Books were thrown everywhere, picture frames were shattered, and some shelfs were even broken. Dylan traversed the room quickly and found Danny laying on his back amongst a pile of papers and glass. The showman was unconscious and he had he beginnings of a large bruise on his face and a nasty looking cut underneath his left eye. Dylan positioned himself over Atlas and shook him awake.

"Danny, wake up. C'mon, please." Dylan whispered, placing a hand on the back of Danny's neck.

Danny's eyes fluttered open and his face scrunched together in confusion, "Ugh, Dylan?" He groaned.

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you okay?" Dylan replied and helped him to a sitting position. Daniel's stiff movements made Dylan almost certain that there were more bruises on Danny's body, but what really worried him was the distant and glazed expression that Daniel exhibited.

After several seconds of silence after Dylan asked his question, Daniel responded hesitatingly, as if unsure of the right answer.

"Uh, y-yeah. My head hurts?" Danny confessed, leaning heavily against the wall behind him.

Dylan narrowed his eyes at the strange behavior, and placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Danny, I think you have a concussion." He frowned, looking into the unusually dull eyes of the showman.

"No, Dylan listen. They were looking for something, I tried to stop them." Daniel slurred, raising his head slightly.

Dylan spoke gently to the disoriented magician, "I know you did Danny, let's go meet up with the others and we'll figure this out." He reassured and began to help Danny remain balanced while walking.

After several stumbles and many painfully slow steps, Dylan and Daniel finally made their way down to the living room where Lula was waiting. Not a minute after Dylan placed Danny on the couch, Merritt made his way through the door practically carrying Jack to the middle of the room. Jack had multiple rips in his clothes and a large slash on his upper bicep that dripped blood sluggishly to the floor.

"I found him all the way in the garden," Merritt grumbled, "The kid's heavier than he looks, my back is killing me." Merritt grunted as he placed Jack down next to Lula.

"Yeah, yeah, old man. I'll pay for your chiropractor." Jack rasped, holding onto his ribs in pain.

Lula worriedly looked over Jack's injuries and bloodstained shirt, "What happened? I heard a gunshot and I thought-"

"Nah, they didn't even have guns, that was just me using one of our props to distract them. One of the guys freaking hit me in the head with something and knocked me out though. I fell down the garden steps and messed up my ribs." Jack clarified, trying to find a comfortable position that wouldn't aggravate his side.

"They didn't have guns?" Dylan questioned, simultaneously listening to the conversation and looking for the medical kit they had stored in one of the many drawers.

"I didn't see any, they just attacked us using whatever was around," Lula pointed to her the cut on her forehead and continued, "I got this when one of them pushed me into the coffee table."

Dylan, having found the medical supplies, passed some tweezers and sterilization wipes to Lula so she could take care of the shards of glass still embedded in her numerous cuts. He also grabbed another roll of bandages and made his way to the couch, sighing when he saw that Danny was passed out again.

"Merritt, wake up Atlas. I'm pretty sure he has a concussion, but use this to make sure." Dylan ordered as he tossed a small flashlight to the mentalist. Danny whined softly as he was awaken, and when Merritt shined the light into Daniel's hooded eyes, his pupils remained dilated. Merritt proceeded to place small bandages on the most prominent of Daniel's injuries, shaking him every so often to keep him awake.

"I think," Merritt began, "That whoever did this wasn't expecting for our happy little home to be occupied. That's why they didn't bring an weapons, and why they weren't prepared to kill you three."

"Well, thank god for that." Jack said sarcastically, wincing as Dylan began wrapping his chest tightly with the thick medical bandages.

"I think you're right, Atlas was saying that they seemed like they were looking for something." Dylan added thoughtfully.

Lula scoffed, "Yeah, well they certainly tore through this place like they were."

"Why, though?" Daniel said as Merritt shook him back to consciousness for the fourth time in ten minutes.

A sound suddenly emanated from behind the group of five, "That is the question." A familiar voice drawled.

The five magicians turned around to see Thaddeus Bradley, Bu Bu, and Li all standing at the edge of the room. Thaddeus and Bu Bu made their way to the center of the room to address the Horsemen while Li raced to somewhere in the building.

"This building holds many secrets." Bu Bu explained, "Many enemies of The Eye would do unspeakable acts to obtain them."

"It seems as though we must relocated your team to a new location, I'm sorry that they were put in danger." Thaddeus addressed Dylan regretfully. Dylan nodded at the Bradley and turned back to Jack, who was attempting to stitch the gash on his arm by himself.

Lula interjected from the background, "My ankle's not broken by the way, helluva sprain though. Also, I vote that we go somewhere tropical. With less rain?" She said hopefully.

The group smiled at the request before turning their attention to the left side of the room as Li came down the stairs.

"Good news is that they didn't take anything important. Bad news, they broken your favorite vase, grandmother." Li joked and flipped over a chair so he could sit down.

The old woman sighed at her grandson's antics, "There are other vases, Li." Bu Bu then turned her attention to the younger Horsemen, "I am just glad that you three are safe, you all did a good job protecting this place and its treasures." She praised.

"Now is the time to heal, Horsemen. You're going to need to be in top shape in order to take on this new threat, whoever they might be." Thaddeus warned vaguely. Jack and Lula groaned simultaneously, while Merritt and Danny just sighed tiredly at the seemingly perpetual string of mysteries. The group of performers all went about their own tasks after that, mostly tending to their wounds, or in Merritt's case, grabbing a broom to sweep up the shards of glass littering the ground. Dylan moved to join in the cleaning, but stopped when Thaddeus called out his name.

"Dylan? A word?" Bradley beckoned the former FBI agent and lead him away from the others so they could have a private conversation. When they were out of earshot of the others, Thaddeus began to advise his deceased partner's only son.

"I know that you blame yourself for not being there for them during this incident, but you must let go of your guilt for the sake of your Horsemen. Whether they'll admitted or not, they're shaken. Be their leader, reassure them that their team is still strong. No matter how we look at it, this was a direct attack against The Eye and its members. We all must be prepared to retaliate if the situation arises again." Thaddeus cautioned, his voice resonated with the severity of the situation.

"Don't worry." Dylan stared right back at the older man, expression exuding deadly seriousness and determination, "We'll be ready."


End file.
